Families flee Milton with pets in tow, turn to South Florida for refugeWPLG Local 10

Residents of Florida’s west coast headed to South Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton, with the massive storm expected to devastate their hometowns.

Many are fleeing with their pets and are seeking out pet-friendly hotels. One of those hotels is the Loews Coral Gables Hotel.

Local 10 News spoke with residents who came to the hotel, located at 2950 Coconut Grove Drive, with their families — some multigenerational — and their pets Wednesday.

“We heard this side of the state was going to be spared and (the hotel was) dog friendly, of course, and they’ve been so wonderful,” Cara Simas, who fled Sarasota, said.

Nadim Barrage, the hotel’s general manager, said staff have seen an uptick in reservations in the past 48 hours. Most evacuees came from the Tampa and Sarasota areas.

“As you relocate your family, you want to relocate your entire family, and pets are part of that family, so we certainly pay a lot of attention to it,” Barrage said.

MILTON EVACUEES IN SOUTH FLORIDA: Samantha Mahoney is one of several from the Tampa and Sarasota areas finding community at the pet-friendly @Loews_Hotels in Coral Gables. Families who say their thoughts remain with friends and family who stayed. ▶️: https://t.co/ynmGolYBF4 pic.twitter.com/fsaYRdacx6

— Christina Vazquez (@ChristinaWPLG) October 9, 2024

Another evacuee, Marcus Gruner, fled the Tampa area. He’s originally from Miami and his family experienced Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Now, his family’s home is once again facing a storm.

“We decided to come down here Tuesday morning, and we’re wearing out the storm. And we remember Hurricane Andrew from living in Miami. We remember Hurricane Helene from two weeks ago,” Gruner said. “My sister had significant damage (from Helene), so her neighborhood had four-and-a-half to five feet worth of water. And I’ll leave it at that. So we’re just hoping that everything gets better.”

Evacuees are now left to watch and wait from afar.

“It’s so mixed, because you feel like you’re in a bubble here right now. And I just keep checking in with everybody. Most of my neighborhood stayed. My best friend’s on my block, and she’s there, hunkered down (with a) generator and I believe they’ll be fine,” Simas said. “It’s new construction, which we’re grateful for, but it’s the unknown when it’s going to hit and what you’re going to find when you get back and when we can get back.”

Evacuee Samantha Mahoney said she too has friends who decided to stay on the west coast.

“They have generators, luckily, but just hopefully everyone stays safe,” she said.

Some of the families staying at the hotel have already begun to befriend one another.

The hotel has also opened a game room to keep evacuees occupied.

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